Being the child of immigrants from the Netherlands – almond is one of the flavors that remind me of childhood and Christmas –  I have several favorite almond cookies and pastry recipes – some of them take hours to prepare and I didn’t think you would want to spend that much time in the kitchen this week.  This one doesn’t take long, it doubles easily, freezes well and, best of all, looks and tastes delicious.  I got this recipe from Barefoot in the Kitchen.